By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - General Discussion - Do You Accept Evolution as a Fact?

 

Do you believe in evolution?

Yes 657 75.69%
 
Mostly, some things are questionable. 74 8.53%
 
No 99 11.41%
 
Not really, but some could be true. 38 4.38%
 
Total:868

You don't 'believe' in science, you understand and then accept it.



Around the Network

As others said, it's not a matter of believing in evolution but rather accepting it. The scientific theory (which is different from just a plain theory) has been repeatedly supported via direct observation (e.g. antibiotic resistance in bacteria) or indirect observation (e.g. analyzing the characteristics and half-life of fossils, constructing phylogenetic trees based on genetic data).



Yes because it's a Fact. The supporting facts are well into the Millions.



Another good point about "theory" vs "law" in terms of science.

The reason why evolution is not a "law" is because we don't yet have the specifics enough to take numbers, and create a conclusion. To give a more visual explanation of what that means, we have the theory and the law of gravity:

The "LAW" of gravity simply gives the testable equation for how gravity works. It says "Every point mass attracts every single point mass by a force pointing along the line intersecting both points. The force is directly proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the point masses"
This is a mathematical computation, that anyone with enough means can use to sufficiently come to a correct answer. You take the mass of two objects, and the distance, and you can figure out the gravitational compute.

The "THEORY" of gravity, is a explanation of WHY gravity behaves in the way it does. This theory is that objects of a higher density influence the attraction of other objects. There are visual respresentations based on this theory of space looking like a blanket:
http://s1088.photobucket.com/user/jarphys/media/framedrag.png.html
This description comes from the way we can actually use a blanket IRL and the tests are virtually identical to what the LAW of gravity predicts.
So, to summarise, the "THEORY" of gravity (which is most closely related to Einstein's theory of relativity, says that objects that are unevenly distributed among their environments create a spacetime bend.

Ok, sorry for all that, but it was important to explain exactly what LAW and THEORY means. Einsteins theory is fact. It just isn't a mathematical compute, its a description of WHY something happens. THEORY = WHY. LAW = HOW.

There is no "law of evolution" because we don't have a mathematical formula that allows us to look at a species and say, ok with this many genes, and this amount of radiation, and this amount of time, you can change this species to another.

However, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. We see changes happen within species all the time, and on a bacterial level and viral level, we actually see species change to other species. That is because they are very simple organisms, which take much less time to visibly change. The more complex the creature, the longer it takes, but we've still seen changes in small insects. It is reasonable to conclude that we could eventually see a species change into another after several hundred years, given that we can see it happen in simpler life-forms.



Of course. I'm not an idiot.



The Democratic Nintendo fan....is that a paradox? I'm fond of one of the more conservative companies in the industry, but I vote Liberally and view myself that way 90% of the time?

Around the Network
LivingMetal said:
smroadkill15 said:

When I say evolution, I mean the first vertebrate animals to homo sapiens. It doesn't matter to me if you do or don't, I'm simply curious. Feel free to post your feelings on why or why not. I would rather it steer clear of any unconstructive arguments. Please don't name call because someone doesn't agree with you. If you want to know more about why someone feels that way, ask them nicely. 

Thank you, have a nice day! 

No.  Unless it's been observed and tested in a controlled environment with consistant results, it's not science.  Not fact.  Now, we've seen variations of animals within a type (however you want to define it) of animal such as a variety of dogs or a variety of cattle, but no one has ever seen a dog turn into a cow.  The evolutionary theory doesn't dictate that cows came from dogs, but you get my principle here without havign to split hairs.  Are there mutations, yes.  But no one has seen an animal turn into another animal.  There are even too many gaps in the fossil records to support it as fact/science.  The fossil record is just "arranging stuff" based on paradigm.

How do you define a species?



Well, it's not really possible to answer that question since you want a general answer on "do you believe in evolution" but actually want the answer to "do you believe in the evolution from vertebrate to homo sapiens". What specific question do you seek and answer from us on?

Evolution is a state of nature, it exists all around us and is visible daily, so of course it exists. If the question is if some vertebrate evolved into humans, the answer is a likely yes. Most evidence points toward it.



LivingMetal said:
smroadkill15 said:

When I say evolution, I mean the first vertebrate animals to homo sapiens. It doesn't matter to me if you do or don't, I'm simply curious. Feel free to post your feelings on why or why not. I would rather it steer clear of any unconstructive arguments. Please don't name call because someone doesn't agree with you. If you want to know more about why someone feels that way, ask them nicely. 

Thank you, have a nice day! 

No.  Unless it's been observed and tested in a controlled environment with consistant results, it's not science.  Not fact.  Now, we've seen variations of animals within a type (however you want to define it) of animal such as a variety of dogs or a variety of cattle, but no one has ever seen a dog turn into a cow.  The evolutionary theory doesn't dictate that cows came from dogs, but you get my principle here without havign to split hairs.  Are there mutations, yes.  But no one has seen an animal turn into another animal.  There are even too many gaps in the fossil records to support it as fact/science.  The fossil record is just "arranging stuff" based on paradigm.

But it has.

We can litterally see evolution happen. Like there are millions of tests that have been performed in this regard, both in controlled environments and observerd in nature. Like acatually you can watch evoltuion happen in a lab or just in the natural world. There is also no proof to the contrary of this.



The Fury said:
Raistline said:

OPEN your eyes, you have been fooled by the scientific communities lies and the worldwide conspirty. The earth is FLAT!

This would have been funnier if you had some some other random shape... like a tedrahedron.

This jest was purposely pointed directly at the Flat Earther movement.



I changed the thread title to word it better. Too late to change the poll title without making a new one, so I'll leave it how it is.